


From London to Paris

by animad



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Interrailing AU, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-12 06:24:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15989501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/animad/pseuds/animad
Summary: Dan and Phil meet interrailing through Europe.





	From London to Paris

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to [@everyoneinspaceisgay](https://everyoneinspaceisgay.tumblr.com) for betaing! I can only apologise the amount of typos <3\. Also to [@outphan](outphan.tumblr.com) for getting the ball rolling in the first place
> 
> For Phandom Fic Fest: Tour II
> 
> (also ao3 messed up something of the paragraph spacing so apologies and I'll fix it later)

Dan stood in St. Pancras Station beneath the departure boards. He glanced down at his phone, for the hundredth time that day, at his travel times. He’d never done anything like this before, let alone by himself, and the jittery energy beneath his skin had been hovering the line between nervous and excited since he’d booked this trip on a burst of spontaneity several weeks ago.

 **Stop 1: London, St. Pancras**.

He looked back up at the digital yellow lettering above his head. The website had told him he’d have to be at the station for 7am, so here he was.

Although the station was perhaps the quietest he’d ever seen it, there was a buzz in the air of the anticipation of the morning commuters and holiday makers arriving from all over the country. On his way in, he’d watched as the baristas and sales assistants set up shop ready for another long and busy day. Then he’d made his way through security and into the ‘international departures’ section of the station.

 _8:31 AMSTERDAM CS  
_ _please wait in lounge_

Dan made his way towards the lounge, as instructed, and sat himself down on a brown faux leather sofa. He tucked his rucksack in next to his legs, pulled out his headphones and connected them to his phone, pressing play on the soothing tones of _frank ocean_. He looked around the room at his fellow travellers, most of whom were slouched on similar sofas, scrolling on their phones or fiddling with their bags.

Some showed signs of clearly not having the luxury of living in London, having draped themselves over the seats, possibly asleep. Dan wondered, briefly, whether there was any responsibility on his part to wake them for boarding. He figured probably not. That said, he did feel a little bad; he’d been awake only a couple hours himself, safe in the knowledge that it was a short journey from his flat to the station. Even if he had inevitably left all his packing until the morning of, despite his promises to himself and his grandma that he wouldn’t do that this time.

He had partly kept them, he’d thrown all his clothes on _top_ of his bag last night but then had got distracted by a pizza delivery to actually finish the task, which was still a step further from previous attempts. Even so, that left 5am Dan cursing his 10pm self and cramming a variety of clothing into the bag, without really paying attention as to what, exactly, they were. Before promptly running around his flat trying to locate his passport only to find it in the pocket of the pair of jeans he’d just changed out of. _Other countries have clothes shops, right?_ He could always just buy some underwear there if he needed. Perhaps he should learn the word for ‘underwear’ in different languages just to be safe. 

He realised his knee had started bouncing of its own accord so he pressed his foot flat against the floor and started scrolling through the itinerary on his phone. It calmed him seeing all his plans laid out neatly before him, made it seem less daunting. Soon his rushed morning started to catch up with him as his stomach reminded him of the breakfast he’d skipped.

There was a small counter at the other end of the lounge selling food and drink. Reserving his seat with his bag, got up and ordered himself a coffee and bagel while it was still quiet, removing his headphones to talk to the barista. He glanced over his shoulder to check on his bag as he waited for his coffee.

The lounge was beginning to fill up now and several people seemed to have had the same idea, as a queue was starting to form behind him. He collected his coffee from the barista and sat back down.

Resting his coffee carefully on the sofa beside him allowed him to unwrapped his bagel with both hands. Bacon and egg. So much for that whole vegan thing. He internally groaned at the greasy goodness and took another big bite.

Part way through, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He wiped his hand on his jeans and pulled it out.

It was a text from his grandma.

 _Grandma: Good morning Daniel, I hope you made it to the station alright and didn’t leave all your packing to this morning, though I expect you did.  
_ _Grandma: Enjoy Amsterdam, it’s a very unique city, I’ve had a lot of fun there ;)_

Dan suddenly regretted teaching his grandma emoticons during his last visit.

Throughout his entire life, he had heard plenty of stories from her travelling days. As a boy he would listen with bated breath as she recounted her tales and would beg her for more every time. As he got older, he found those same stories being retold with details he did not remember hearing as a child, and slowly he began to realise the types of adventures his grandma had really been having.

So, Dan did not doubt for a second her connotation behind that winky face and as much as he did not want to think about it, he was also kind of impressed: She’d gone out there and lived the life she’d wanted to the fullest and had had the adventures she’d wanted. Now she got to grow old satisfied, with stories she could pass down to her doting grandchildren.

 _Dan: morning grandma, made it to the station fine, just waiting for the train x  
_ _Dan: you’ll have to tell me about it someday, but i’m sure you and i will have very different experiences xx_

He set his phone back down and finished his breakfast.

 

Dan had drifted over his most recent gaming app addiction on this phone and had almost forgotten where he was when a voice announced boarding over the tannoy. He slipped his headphones down to his neck and looked up at the mini departure board hanging from the ceiling on the lounge.

 _8:31 AMSTERDAM CS  
_ _Boarding…  Plat 3_

Dan pocketed his phone and stood up, as did many of the people around him, including the previously possibly sleeping people, thankfully. Hoisting his rucksack onto his back and throwing his rubbish into a nearby bin, he followed the arrows to platform 3 where a swanky looking train sat with a eurostar logo on the side.

He found his reservation, quickly tucked his bag into the overhead compartment, and tucked himself into the window seat beneath it. Dan’s seat was at the back of the carriage in the corner, his favourite place to be, although this train had much fancier seats than any other he’d ever been on. He watched as the rest of the passengers hauled their own suitcases down the isle, sometimes getting stuck passing people coming the other way.

Dan grimaced as he looked at the reservation on the seat next to him, preparing himself for an awkward 3 hour and 40 minute train journey in the personal space of some rando. He re-adjusted his headphones and hoped his bladder would hold out for the entire journey.

He flipped his music over to _BROCKHAMPTON_ and watched through the window as the remaining passengers filed onto the train.

At 8:30 exactly, he heard another announcement  of the trains imminent departure.

“Eurostar at platform 3 about to depart for Amsterdam.”

Dan kept watching as one very late passenger ran across the platform, dragging a very large suitcase behind them, and boarded the train a few carriages down. _Idiot_ , Dan thought.

As the train started to pull away from the station, Dan opened Netflix on his phone. He’d downloaded several series for the journey and he intended to watch them all. He’d debated over bringing his laptop just for the bigger screen but had decided against it, it would be another thing he’d have to carry in his already horrendously heavy rucksack. He also wanted to experience as much of this trip as possible and his laptop would just be another temptation to stay in his hotel room on the, probably questionable to non-existent, wifi.

He’d just opened the first episode of brooklyn nine nine, which he’d put to the top of his list after all his friends suddenly became obsessed all at once, when a voice above him spoke.

“Hello! Oh, sorry!” Dan looked up and saw a man stood in the aisle next to the empty seat beside Dan. The guy waved and pointed at the seat exaggeratedly. Dan looked down at it and back up at the man then smiled and nodded politely and watched as the guy struggled with his suitcase into the luggage rack. It was then that Dan realised that this was the same idiot who he’d watched almost miss the train. Dan rolled his eyes and pressed play on his Netflix.

Eventually, the guy sat himself down. Dan shuffled further towards the wall to ensure minimal physical contact and managed to watch the entirety of the first episode with his eyes fixed firmly on the small screen. During which he’d also watched out of the corner of his eye as the beside guy fidgeted for a while, having legs nearly as long as Dan’s and knees that also pressed uncomfortably into the seats in front of them. The guys knees had bumped Dan’s a few times before Dan had moved his legs even further to the side. He’d noticed the guy get out his phone for a while before discarding it and now Dan couldn’t tell what he was doing. Not that Dan cared.

As the episode ended and Netflix counted down to the next one he risked a glance to the side. He was met with particularly blue eyes. Dan did a double take and this time he was met with particularly blue eyes and a smile too big to be for a stranger. Dan’s own lips quirked in an automatic response but was otherwise too taken aback at being looked at so directly, when everyone it was the unspoken rule of all Londoners to avoid eye contact at all costs.

In his headphones he heard Jake be reprimanded in a cold open, but Dan still had his gaze fixed on the man next to him who was now pointing at the screen and doing a thumbs up. Dan wasn’t sure whether this was to indicate that the episode had started, in case Dan hadn’t noticed, or to give his approval in Dan’s choice of viewing. Either way, Dan found himself nodding again and was vaguely aware of the word ‘cute’ floating around in his brain.

Dan looked back at the screen as the open titles started to play. He managed a few more minutes before curiosity got the better of him and he found himself glancing back at the man next to him. This time the guy was not watching Dan but something in front of Dan. Dan’s phone. Dan was astounded, surely this broke some kind of train etiquette, something along the same lines of ‘not talking to some with headphones on,’ but then again so did staring at strangers so what did he know.

Dan went back to his show, now feeling a little weird that he was sharing the screen with this stranger. He titled the screen away, slightly, an attempt to show the man that this was very much a private showing.

He heard the man say something but it was muffled by his headphones. Dan audibley sighed and pushed an earphone off an ear slightly, turning. There was that too big smile again.

“That’s a really good show.” The guy said, pointing at Dan’s screen again. “One of my favourites actually, apart from Buffy, I could probably recite every line.”

“Oh,” Dan replied, hesitant, not wanting to seem rude but also not really want to invite further conversation. “I’ve only just started it.”

“Season 2’s my favourite.”

“Okay.” Really, though, who starts a conversation like that with a stranger on a train?

An uncomfortable silence filled the gap between them. Dan saw the first glimmer of hesitation and insecurity in the guy's eyes, and started to feel a little bit bad for being so closed off towards him; he was only trying to be friendly after all. Dan should have known conversation would be inevitable, despite his best efforts to avoid such a thing, but being trapped on a train inches apart from another person for the three and a half hours would result in the need to communicate eventually. Dan sighed again, inaudibly this time.

“Hi, I’m Phil, by the way.”

“Dan.” Dan said.

It’s just that Dan’s the worst at conversation and now the awkwardness was starting to creep under his skin. His resolve was beginning to really break.

“Um,” he managed, cautiously. “What other shows you like? I’ve got a few things downloaded.” He internally cringed at how forced his voice sounded but gave himself a pat on the back for trying.

“Oh! Well you'll have to give me a moment to think,” Phil chuckled, and with some embarrassment added, “I do tend to watch a lot more Netflix than I should, really.”

Dan snorted. “It's fine, I'm probably worse. At least you look like you have a life outside of obsessive Netflix watching.”

Dan blushed and looked down. He wasn’t sure why he’d said. He started to feel that awkwardness again and prepared himself for a judging look when, to his relief, Phil burst out laughing instead. Dan smiled a bit now too. At his social awkwardness and at how, to be honest, cute the man looked when he was laughing like that, his tongue poking out from between his teeth.

“Well, I don’t know about that,” he said. “But I'm currently watching Queer Eye, One Day at a Time, and Riverdale.”

“Oh!” Dan said, “I actually have season 2 of Queer Eye downloaded.”

“You haven’t watched it yet?” Phil exclaimed. “I still have a couple episodes of season 1 left actually. I can only manage a couple episodes at a time though, my tear ducts would probably dry up if I watched all them at once.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Dan laughed. “I cried like a baby during season 1.”

Dan began to relax a little and felt some of that tense awkwardness ebb away. This guy seemed nice enough, anyone who watched Queer Eye had to be, right?

Dan watched as Phil began talking about his favourite episodes and continued to laugh along. He noticed that Phil talked with his hands a lot, and kept reaching up to push up his glasses or touch at his hair that was pushed up in a sort of quiff that fell more to the side. A fuiff? Dan thought.

Dan suddenly realised that Phil had stopped talking.. He opened his mouth to reply to what he hoped was the last thing Phil said but Phil beat him to it.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to your show.” Phil said. He had obviously read Dan’s hesitation incorrectly and was giving Dan the out he thought he wanted. And he did, but also, Dan found he didn’t hate listening to this random stranger on the train talk about he had tried and failed to make an avocado dip. Dan didn’t even know it was possible to fail that badly.

“Yeah,” he said instead. “Thanks,” and slipped back on his headphones.

 

Several episodes passed before Dan looked up again. He could see why his friends had become obsessed so quickly to this show, and why it was one of Phil’s favourite.

The lights of the tunnel flashed passed his window and Dan found them kind of mesmerising to watch; identical strips one after another in a seemingly never ending pattern. These blue lines whizzing past his window being the only sign that they were really moving, as well as a gentle vibration of the carriage.

A heavy sigh next to him brought him out of his trance, and when he turned he saw Phil with his head pushed back against and eyes squeezed shut, glasses discarded, one arm folded, one arm open, in his lap. His hands were fisted around the arms of his chair. Dan frowned.

“Are you okay?” He asked gently. Phil looked to be in quite some discomfort, and Dan wondered what had caused this sudden change from the seemingly cheerful, smiling man he had been talking to.

“Yeah,” Phil said, with some effort. “I just get travel sick sometimes. I usually just look out the window but that doesn’t really work when you’re in a tunnel under the sea.” He opened his eyes and looked at Dan. “And I forgot to take my travel sickness tablets before I got on. I booked a taxi in the wrong time and nearly missed the train. I had to run.”

“Yeah, I saw that.” Dan replied, then realised he probably shouldn’t have admitted that. “How did you book a taxi in the wrong timezone?”

“Oh, really?” Phil huffed a laugh, ignoring the question. “That’s embarrassing.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I’ve nearly missed my fair share of public transport before.” Dan admitted, because he felt bad for the guy.

“Oh, do tell.”

“Well, I sprayed deodorant in my eye once just before I had to catch a plane.” Dan wasn’t sure why he was divulging one of his most embarrassing moments to this total stranger but when it made Phil laugh so much he had to cover his mouth his hand, Dan found he didn’t really care.

“How did you manage that?”

“Listen,” Dan said, feeling sudden indignation for his past self, “I was in a rush.” Is all he can come up with. It’s the truth really, and while it had definitely not been funny at the time, spending the uber ride to the airport with a hand over his eye trying to pretend he was fine, he could laugh at the experience now. He really should have learnt his lesson about not leaving everything until the last minute, though. But, alas. “My mum had to get me some eye drops from the airport Boots, then put in my eye in the airport waiting area.”

“And I thought I was clumsy,” Phil said.

Conversation drifted off after that and Phil seemed to be more relaxed. Dan went back to his show.

 

“Are you feeling any better?” Dan asked when the next episode had finished. Phil didn’t seem to have that tense look on his face anymore, and he’d put his glasses back on.

“Yeah, I am a bit actually. It tends to come in waves.” Phil replied. “I think I’m gonna go get some water, do you want anything?”

Dan shook his head. “No, I’m good thanks.”

As Phil got up and headed off down the aisle, presumably in search of the buffet carriage, Dan settled back down in his seat. He tried to stretch his legs out underneath the chair in front, but likely only succeeded in bruising his shins. He should probably use this opportunity to get up and walk about for a bit but Phil had left his bag and he wasn’t sure when he would be coming back.

Dan was halfway through the sixth episode, where Dan was relating to Amy having a terrible time of it in a nightclub on Halloween, when Phil finally returned.

“I was beginning to think you’d got lost,” Dan started. “Wait, I thought you were just getting some water?”

Phil took his seat again and emptied his arms into his lap.

“I realised I was hungry as well. And look,” he held up a bag of sweets. “Haribo!”

Dan rolled his eyes. “Did you get anything healthy?” he said, looking over the haul of sweets and chocolate residing in Phil’s lap.

“Who eats healthy food on a train?”

“It’s half 10 in the morning,” Dan said, incredulous.

“Yeah, and breakfast was hours ago,” Phil retorted, opening the packet of Haribo. “It’s practically lunch now.” He offered the packet out to Dan who looked at it in disgust before taking a cola bottle. This seemed to please Phil who took a heart for himself and popped it in his mouth.

“I hope you don’t make a habit of Haribo for lunch then.”

“No, only with cute guys on the train.” Phil winked at Dan. Well, blinked.

Dan felt his face heat up. Phil giggled, cheeks going a little pink as well, as he shuffled through his various sweet collection.

“Do you think we’re closer to France or England now?” he asked, to change the subject.

According to Dan’s google search a few days previous, the train would make land in Calais, then travel through Belgium then up to Amsterdam, where he would be staying a couple of nights before carrying on to Berlin.

Dan looked out the window, as if this would give him some clue to answer the question. “I don’t know.” He said, honestly. “I just know there is far too much water above our heads right now.”

“Hmm,” Phil said around another Haribo and looked up, considering this. “It’s pretty amazing though. Have you never been on the Eurostar before, either?” He asked.

“No,” Dan replied. “I’ve never been to mainland Europe before.” Also looking up at the ceiling, considering.

“But you’ve flown?”

“Yeah, a few family holidays to Asia and New Zealand, but never Europe.”

“I’ve never been there but my parents do annual trips to America which I usually join in on.”

“Oh that’s cool, I’ve never been to America.” Dan admitted, frowning at a piece of gum stuck to the ceiling above their heads.

A not so uncomfortable silence fell between them, then. Phil, eating more Haribo and Dan fiddling with his phone. He didn’t feel like he should be starting up a new episode, like there was more conversation to be had with this guy. Maybe more conversation Dan wanted to have.

“So,” Dan started. “Are you going to Amsterdam for work or pleasure?” He looked up at Phil, who was watching him in a kind of curiosity, head tilted to the side which made his quiff fall over even more.

“Pleasure.” He said smiling. “I thought I’d take a little solo holiday before I go back to uni.”

“Oh, what are you doing at uni?”

“I’m starting a masters.” Phil told him. “What about you? Why are you here?”

Dan looked back down at his phone. “Oh, me too,” he said. “Without the uni part though, that stuff wasn’t for me. I thought a little trip would be good for me, it was kind of spontaneous really.”

The rest of the journey continued in much the same pattern; Dan would watch a few episodes then they’d chat a little, either about themselves or about the episode Dan had just watched. Phil hadn’t been joking about how much he loved the show. He always knew exactly what scenes Dan was referencing and would even recite the lines back to him. By then time they reached Amsterdam, Dan had watched nearly half of the first season.

 

As the driver’s voice announced their arrival into the station, people around them started to get up and take down their bags from the overhead compartments. Phil stood up as well and pulled his suitcase down from the baggage rack. However, before Dan could stand up too, Phil came back and blocked his path. Dan hovered in an uncomfortable position halfway between way standing and sitting.

“It was nice meeting you, Dan.” Phil said, he sounded earnest about that.

“Yeah,” Dan replied. “Enjoy Amsterdam, might even see you around.”

A flash of something flickered across Phil’s face. “Sure,” he said, pausing a moment, seemingly unsure of what to do next. Someone next to Phil attempt to push around him where there wasn’t room. “Sorry,” he said to them, then turned back to Dan and waved.

“Bye.”

Before Dan could say much else Phil had walked away, swept up in the crowd. Once the carriage had emptied some more Dan fetched down his own bag, put away his headphones, and followed.

**Stop 2: Amsterdam, Netherlands (2 nights)**

Amsterdam was, perhaps, the city he had been most looking forward to and was a little disappointed that he would only have one full day there. Dan walked out of the station and was at once greeted with the magnificence of this city. He slowly walked across the square in front of him. Opposite was the first glimpse of the canals that made this city so famous. He turned around and looked up, even the train station was magnificent in its architecture.

Dan turned in the general direction he knew his hotel was in but was in no rush to get there. Instead, he took himself on an unguided tour, walking through the picturesque streets with no intention of seeing any of the traditional touristy attractions, not yet anyway, but just wanting to lose himself in the labyrinth of narrow streets. Dan soon found himself in ‘The Nine Streets’ and hopped in and out of the shops as they took his fancy.

He took lots of photos, shots of the crowds framed by the buildings on either side of the street, a view down river from the top of a bridge, of locals going about their lives.

When Dan finally checked in to his hotel, he immediately threw his bags down and collapsed face first on the bed. His legs hurt and his stomach rumbled and he felt exhausted. And it was still only day one.

He rolled over and took out his phone, holding it above his face while he flipped through the photos he’d taken today, deleting the ones that were no good and choosing a couple to post to his Instagram. Satisfied with his choices, he hit publish and sat up.

Grabbing the menu from the table at the side of his bed, Dan ordered some food. Once he’d put the phone down he grabbed the TV remote and browsed through the available Dutch TV shows.

Dan found his mind was starting to settle as it drift through the events of the day; the busy streets of London as he sat in a cab on the way to the station; the rhythm of the train matched with the flashing of the tunnel lights; a set of blue eyes and too big smile. Dan felt something like regret that he would never see Phil again. Maybe he should have asked for his number, they were currently in the same city after all, and as far as he was aware had come from the same one too.

But Dan was almost certain Phil had forgotten about him as soon as he’d stepped off that train, and Dan would be moving on to Berlin in a couple days, anyway. He signed and dropped the remote on the bed. _Come on, Dan_ he thought, he was just some guy on the train.

The phone rang on his bedside and he went down to collect his food. He had all of tomorrow to sample the delicacies of the new country, so for now he allowed himself the indulgence of  familiar comfort food. He ate it while sat on his bed watching a show in Dutch. He had put the English subtitles on but wasn’t really reading them, his mind was elsewhere.

 

The next morning Dan woke to his alarm and light seeping through the curtains. 8:00am. Considerably later than the previous morning, but still, early by his usual standards. After checking his phone, he showered then went downstairs for breakfast.

There was a lot he wanted to do today. He’d written a list. All the websites had told him he should rent a bike, and there was a bike rental fairly near his hotel so that would be his first stop. From there he planned on doing some of the traditional tourist attractions as well as venturing further out than he had managed to on foot yesterday.

 

By late afternoon Dan found himself sat in a quaint little coffee shop before the canal cruise the websites had also suggested he take. He’d locked up his bike and was enjoying the momentary pause in his day. He’d raced through his to do list; finding time to visit the Anne Frank house and the Van Gogh museum, even a quick stop at the ‘The Fault in our Stars’ bench, as pointed out to him by Google maps. Dan didn’t see anything significant about the bench, it wasn’t even the original from the movie, that one had been stolen and replaced by a flower pot then later a replica bench by the council. It was exactly like the one next to it and all the others he’d passed that day, but he’d stopped anyway, if only to ponder the cultural significance of a bench.

Dan had made full use of his bike, spending the last few hours cycling through the scenic streets of Jordaan, past the shops along Prinsengracht. Here he’d felt compelled to stop a few times and duck into some of the antique shops, unable to resist their charms. If Amsterdam hadn’t been the first of many cities on his trip he would have picked up a few more souvenirs. He did cave on a pack of postcards, though, a couple of which he thought would look nice framed for his grandma.

Now, it was nearing four and Dan’s phone rested on the round metal table next to him and his legs stretched out underneath it. He’d taken a table just outside of the cafe entrance, allowing him to look out across the street and the canal opposite and reflect on his day.

Dan was glad he had taken this trip. As nervous and sometimes scared he felt being in a new country by himself, it was also thrilling and exciting. He was able to do what he wanted and go where he wanted without having to compromise and feel like he was spending most of his time trailing after someone else, or have someone else trail after him, so that neither party was enjoying themselves. But this also meant that there would be no one to experience these sights with, and these adventures, to blurt out his thoughts to. He could text his friends a picture, but by the time they would respond the moment would have passed.

A sudden clattering followed by a chorus of apologies broke through his thoughts and he turned around to witness the disturbance. A woman in a white apron, similar to the one who had served him, and a man with his back to him were bent over picking up cutlery from the floor. Both still apologising and insisting the other away. They stood and the man took his seat while the woman quickly hurried away, a tray of scattered cutlery in her arms.

Dan scanned across to the guy who seemed to have caused the ruckus and the familiarity took a second to kick in. This time there was a grey jumper with little foxes on it that seemed to blend into the background, and the quiff which was proudly standing tall. And there was that smile. Which was when Dan realised the guy had noticed him too.

“Dan! Hi!” Phil exclaimed. He waved, before picking up his bag and inviting himself to Dan’s own table. “I guess you’re just seeing all of my most embarrassing moments lately aren’t you.” He laughed.

Dan reshuffled himself at the table, momentarily flustered at having his peaceful little bubble disturbed. But if it had to be anyone he supposed he was glad it was this cheerful, bumbling not-quite-stranger.

He turned himself so he was facing Phil more directly across the table and laughed.

“Well, I guess you shouldn’t be so clumsy.”

“But it’s one of my defining personality traits!”

And just like that, Dan remembered the easiness with which their conversations had flowed.

A different waitress came over then, bringing Dan his coffee. She placed it on the table in front of him. He took a sip, not particularly sorry that Phil didn’t have his yet.

Phil watched him as he put the cup back down on it’s saucer.

“So,” Phil started, just as Dan said “How-”

“Sorry,” Phil giggled. “You go.”

“I was just going to ask how you were finding Amsterdam so far?”

“You mean AmsterDAN,” Phil said, complete with finger guns, then shook his head. “Sorry, I thought of that one earlier and was sad I wouldn’t get the chance to tell you. But now I do.”

Dan groaned at the pun, but felt a warmth creep up his cheeks knowing that Phil had been thinking of him, too.

“Amsterdam’s been so much fun, better now, though. It’s such a beautiful city, isn’t it? I’m definitely going to have to come back some day.” Phil continued.

Phil’s order finally arrived, a similar cup of coffee, but this time with several sachets of sugar and a little jug of milk. Dan watched as Phil emptied all the sachets into the cup and then what seemed like half the jug of milk.

Dan must have been making a face about it because Phil said:

“What?” He put the jug down. “I like my coffee sweet.”

Dan had a thought that that seemed about right.

“And I like mine black and bitter,” Dan replied, taking another sip. “Like my soul.” He made his voice go deep and gravelly for this last part.

Phil wrinkled his nose before giggling. “Well that’s not true at all.”

“How could you know? You’ve known me a day.”

“I can just tell.” Phil said, lifting his chin slightly. “I bet you’re all rainbows and kittens inside, really.”

“Puppies.” Dan said, quietly.

“Ha! So I was right!”

A burst of laughter fell from Dan’s mouth.

Dan checked the time on his phone, which had continued to lay ignored on the table throughout their entire conversation. Time most have run away from him because the tour he’d booked was leaving in 10 minutes. He jumped up from the table, picking up his jacket.

“It was good to see you again, Phil, but there’s this boat that’s leaving soon and I have a ticket. It’s supposed to be a tour through the canals and I’ve been looking forward to this all day so...” He trailed off his rambled.

Phil was still sat in his seat, his expression a mixture of startled and confused, a deer in the headlights kind of look. His body was positioned as if to stand as well, but as Dan finished he seemed to sink back into his seat, realisation and perhaps a hint of disappointment pulling back his features. But maybe that was Dan’s wishful thinking.

“Oh, okay” he said, and yep, that’s definitely disappointment. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to see you around. Again.”

“Yeah,” Dan said, and took a chance. “Or, we could meet up again? Breakfast, here, tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’d like that. 9:30?” Phil said, expression once again lifting.

“Nine thirty’s great.” Dan checked his phone again. “I really do have to go now though. But I’ll see you back here tomorrow.”

“You will.” Phil smiled.

Dan turned around and quickly headed in the direction of the canal cruise pick up point. He made it just in time before he realised he still hadn’t got Phil’s number, and wondered, briefly, whether Phil would actually turn up tomorrow.

The boat was near full and started to pull away shortly after Dan had found his seat. He followed everyone else and put in the earphones that were attached to his seat just as an English speaking voice welcomed him to the tour through them. He sat back, letting his eyes and thoughts follow the directions of the calming voice telling him about the origins and history of the city surrounding him. He marveled as they sailed past exactly what the voice was teaching him about. He’d already explored most of this area but he found there were plenty of details he’d missed, intricacies of the architecture or even whole entire landmarks that he hadn’t even realised _were_ landmarks. The new knowledge just made him love this city even more.

He snapped a few pictures of the more extravagant landmarks but was content in just watching and listening. Perhaps he would have enjoyed history more at school if all lessons had been as interactive as this.

As he walked back to his hotel, he found himself being more observant of his surroundings, looking up more at the buildings, appreciating and wondering what history they held.

 

As Dan woke up the next morning his brain instantly reminded him of the breakfast date he had planned with Phil. Whose number he didn’t even have. Who might not show up. Breakfast that is definitely not a date.

He took a deep breath and sat up, dropping his legs over the side of the bed and stood up. He drew back the curtains of the single small window in his room and opened it as far as the security system would allow, letting a warm breeze blow through the gap.

Dan’s room was on the sixth floor, only a couple floors higher than the buildings surrounding him which gave him a view a good distance across the city. He grabbed his phone and pushed his hand through the small gap to take a picture, then withdrawing it quickly. There was a wide ledge outside his window, but still, he didn’t fancy having that conversation with the hotel staff.

After packing up his bag he checked out and left to meet Phil. At least, he hoped he would be.

Dan walked the now familiar route to the cafe he had visited yesterday. The streets were still fairly quiet, even for nine in the morning. Dan delighted in this. He really hated the crowds of London, the intense atmosphere of everyone just wanting to get to where they were going, the journey being a mere inconvenience, not a time for unnecessary chit chat.

But here, accidental eye contact was met with an accompanying smile, a positive acknowledgement of your existence, instead of an angry glare that made you wish you didn’t.

Dan reached the cafe a little early and sat down at the same table outside again. There were several other people sat nearby enjoying their breakfasts, mostly couples and families, speaking in languages he didn’t understand.

His nerves were beginning to really pick up now, as much as he didn’t want to be stood up he also didn’t want to waste his last few hours in Amsterdam. He had no idea when he’d get the chance to come back. But what if Phil did turn up? What would they talk about? They’d had little problem yesterday once they got started but what if they finally ran out of topics? They’d chosen to meet this time. Did that make them friends? Was Phil expecting to keep in touch after today? Or was this a holiday romance kind of thing? A one day holiday-friendship?

Dan didn’t know the answer to any of these questions. His hands were starting to feel clammy so he wiped them on his jeans and took a deep breath to calm himself. It was just one breakfast, and he had a perfectly good escape if it did get awkward and he felt he needed to leave. He could just fudge his train times, Phil would never know.

Dan checked his phone - 9:36am. Disappointment followed almost immediately by relief which began to wash over him as he set his phone back down and thought he should probably go and order something. Just then he heard a clattering behind him slowly getting louder. He turned around and of course there was Phil, speeding along the pavement, backpack slung over one shoulder and suitcase bouncing along behind him.

Phil had a determined look on his face as he sped down the street towards him, looking up and down at his phone, obviously trying to follow some directions. He was wearing his glasses again and most of his fringe was stuck to his forehead with sweat, while the rest stuck out at angles. He was wearing a blue jumper with a cartoonish pug on it.

Dan smiled, it reminded him much more of the guy he’d seen racing across the platform back in London than the seemingly put-together man he’d bumped into yesterday.

As soon as Phil noticed Dan a grin broke out on his face.

“Dan, you’re still here!”

“Yeah, I guess I am,” Dan said as Phil open his arms. Dan stepped into them awkwardly, unaware they had made it to the hugging stage. He rested his hands on Phil’s shoulders while Phil embraced him in a full bear hug. Dan pushed back after the appropriate amount of time had passed, very much unprepared for this much physical contact.

Even so, it had Dan blushing. He turned away and sat back down.

“Wait, I’m going to go order some coffee. Have you had anything yet?”

Dan shook his head. “No, I was waiting for you.”

“Well, I’m here now and I need my second cup of coffee. Black, like your soul right?” Phil grinned.

 _Second_ cup of coffee? Dan thought as he watched Phil walk up to the counter.

 

“I’m so sorry I’m so late by the way.” Phil said as he sat down.

“Oh, it’s okay,” Dan replied. “Totally didn’t think you’d stood me up.”

“I would never do that, Dan!” Phil sounded genuinely offended. “I was a mess this morning, again. First my alarm didn’t go off- “

“Are you sure you set it?”

“Then I lost my room key. It was in the bathtub-”

“How-?” Dan squawked.

“Then,” Phil carried on. “It took half an hour to check out and that was all before I’d even had my first cup of coffee so you can image the stress.”

“Wow,” Dan said, try his hardest not to laugh and failing miserably. “Sounds like you’ve had an eventful morning. I guess I can forgive your tardiness.”

“Right!”

“Where did you get your first coffee from?”

“There’s a cute place just outside my hotel,” he replied with a shrug, his outrage seemingly forgotten. “I went there yesterday, that’s where I got my Stroopwafel as well.”

“Ah, I meant to get one of those.”

“What? You haven’t had one yet,” Phil said, outrage returned. “We’ll have to get you one after breakfast before we leave.”

“Speaking of,” Phil said, as their coffees were brought over.

Dan left his cup to cool, not particularly set on scolding his mouth on the still too hot liquid while Phil repeated his, obviously very practiced, milk and sugar ritual before immediately taking a long sip.

“What do you want to eat?” Dan asked getting up.

“Pancakes.”

Dan rolled his eyes and left to order Phil’s pancakes and some French toast for himself, with a promise that he’d try to be a bit healthier for the rest of the trip.

“So you know I said I was a weirdo magnet?” Phil asked not a second after Dan had sat down.

“Yeah.”

“Well I was in the lift back up to my room, yesterday and it stopped on a floor on the way up and when the doors opened there was this group of bridesmaids stood there. Then they got in so it was just me and this group of very tipsy bridesmaid.” He leaned over the table slightly towards Dan. “I swear, Dan,” Phil continued. “I’m a weirdo magnet, you’ll see.”

“Will I?”

Phil leant back again. “Yeah.” His tone quieter, more hesitant.

 

“Oh fuck,” Dan said suddenly, checking the time. “I have a train to catch.”

“Wait,” Phil said, checking his own phone. “I’ll walk with you.”

They talked the short walk to the station, occasionally pointing out various landmarks to each other that they visited and telling stories of what they found there. They stopped on a bridge over a canal. Dan watched from behind as Phil peered over the side. He couldn’t help himself and snapped a burst of pictures before pocketing his phone again.

As they walked into the station Dan took a final glance over his shoulder at the beautiful city he was leaving behind, sure that he would never forget his experiences here. It made him even more excited for all the cities he still had to see.

He caught Phil’s eye as he turned back round and walked through the door Phil was holding open for him. A flutter of melancholy suddenly settled itself in his chest. He smiled back and stepped into the echoing bustle of the station.

They walked up to the departure boards and Dan scanned his eyes over the writing until he found his platform.

“Well, I’m Platform 5,” he said, and turned to face Phil.

But Phil was looking at him, his eyes wide and mouth making a little ‘O’.

“Where did you say you were going?” He asked.

“I- I don’t think I did. I’m going to Berlin, I can’t believe we never asked that.” When he thought about it, Dan realised they’d never actually acknowledged that they would both be leaving the next day, that they would have to say goodbye for good this time.

“I’m going to Berlin too.” Phil replied, a smile creeping across his face.

Dan laughed up at the screens, at the dozens of train times they showed, in amazement that out of all of them Phil would be taking the same one as him. Hope began to lift the melancholy of a few minutes ago.

“Well alright then,” he said, grinning back at Phil. “Let’s go to Berlin.”

The train was already on the platform when they reached it. They stopped on the platform and checked their reservations. They were seated at opposite ends of the train.

“I guess I’ll see you in Berlin, then?” Phil’s eyes flicked back and forth between both of Dan’s as if watching carefully for his reaction to the question, that Dan recognised as an assumption.

He nodded. “Yeah, I’ll see you in Berlin.”

As Phil was turning away, Dan stepped after him.

“Wait, maybe we should exchange numbers, you know, in case we can’t find each other?” His voice raised at the end to make it a question. Another assumption.

“Right, of course.” Phil said, getting his phone out of pocket, unlocking it and passing it to Dan.

Dan added his number and handed it back. “There.”

He had just turned away and was halfway to his carriage when he felt a vibration of a text in his pocket.

_Unknown: it me ;)_

Dan turned around to catch Phil’s bright blue suitcase being pulled up the step at the far end of the train. He smiled down at his phone, before saving the contact and sending off a reply.

_Dan: hey :)_

This time Dan’s seatmate was a bald man in a suit, who looked very serious pulling out his laptop and looking at very official looking documents in a foreign language. Dan was 100% sure this man would not be initiating any kind of communication, and that was fine with him.

Dan hit play on his Netflix once again, ready to settle into another long train journey but it only took a few minutes before a text notification was filling up half his screen.

 _Phil: There’s a very small girl next to me listening to some very scary sounding music_  
_Phil: I’m scared she’s going to go deaf  
_ _Phil: Do you think she speaks english? Should I tell her half the carriage can hear her music?_

Dan was halfway through a reply before Phil sent another text.

 _Phil: Nvm I think she saw that she’s turned it down  
_ _Phil: I feel bad :(_

 _Dan: don’t be you probably did her a favour  
_ _Dan: at least you know she speaks english now? :/_

 _Phil:_ :/

**Stop 3: Berlin, Germany (3 nights)**

Much of the 6 hour journey was spent this way; Phil texting him random thoughts while Dan watched his Netflix or the world go by past his window. Bald Businessman got up no less than 7 times during the journey, once for almost 25 minutes. Dan made himself assume it was because he had a friend further down the train.

They arrived in to _Berlin Hbf_ station exactly on time, which was a new experience for Dan.

 _Phil: Every window’s made of glass in this station, its making me nervous  
_ _Phil: *wall lol_

Dan walked across the platform searching for Phil. There was, indeed, a lot of glass.

“Found you!” Phil said as he came up behind Dan.

“Hey, did you want to get some food first, or just go straight the hostel?” Dan asked.

He’d found out on the train that Phil hadn’t actually booked accommodation for a lot of his cities, and instead was planning on just turning up and booking a hostel. Dan had most definitely booked and pre-planned his entire trip, and had a hostel booked for Berlin. They’d agreed that Phil would try get a bed at the same place as Dan’s.

“Food, definitely.” Phil replied.

 

“Is that a Japanese restaurant?” Phil said, suddenly sounding very excited.

“I think so,” Dan said. “I love Japanese food, you want to go there?”

They sat opposite each other at a table at the back and away from most people, dropping their bags down underneath it.

“I really want to go to Japan,” Dan said, absentmindedly, reading over the entire menu as if he didn’t already know exactly what he was going to order.

“So do I.” Phil said, equally as full of awe, looking as though he was planning on ordering the entire menu. Dan was beginning to worry he actually might.

They ended up both ordering sushi and far too many sides.

 

“So, why are you here then Daniel?” Phil asked, arms folded and leaning towards him on the table. His glasses were sliding down his nose but he was looking at Dan with an intense interest that made Dan feel slightly uncomfortable. Dan readjusted in his seat and looked past Phil at the very obvious couple holding hands across the table at the other side of the restaurant.

“I was- We were hungry.”

Phil tilted his head disapprovingly, smile crooked in the opposite direction, but Dan definitely wasn’t staring.

“You know what I mean.”

Dan huffed a laugh. “I told you, didn’t I? It was spontaneous.”

“And do you usually book continental explorations on a whim?” Phil asked, even though it was very clear from his tone he already knew the answer.

“I don’t usually do anything ‘on a whim’,” Dan conceded.

“So what sparked this sudden burst of spontaneity?” Phil asked.

Dan glanced down at the receipt he’d found in his pocket that he’d starting folding and unfolding somewhere in the conversation.

“My friends did something similar a few months ago, thought I’d give it a go.” Dan turned the questions back. “What about you? Why are you here?”

Phil had maintained the same intense eye contact the entire time but it broke for a moment after Dan asked the question. Phil blinked, eyes flickering all around Dan but not at him and he seemed to back away ever so slightly. It lasted only a second but when Phil’s gaze returned to Dan’s face it was like a dimmer switch had dialed down the brightness on his face. Dan hated that immediately.

“I broke up with someone. Had to get away.” He said, shaking his head and waving a hand as if to brush the statement aside out of the air before it had a chance to cross the short distance between them.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Dan frowned, “I thought you said it was a trip before you started your masters?”

Phil opened his mouth as if to reply and Dan wasn’t sure if any words would actually come out, until they were interrupted by the arrival of their food.

 

About a dozen empty plates were piled up on their table when they sat back in their seats, both equally stuffed and groaning.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to eat another thing ever again.” Phil said.

Dan replied in groans.

It was at least another hour before they felt capable of standing without doubling over in pain and Dan regretted not having a bag with wheels.

The cool air was invigorating to Dan as he stepped out of the restaurant after Phil and let the door swing closed behind him. He took a deep breath as they continued their journey to the hostel. Dusk had fallen sometime during their meal and the street lamps were beginning to shed light on the street below, the shopfronts lighting up against the dimming natural light.

 

Once the hostel reception had confirmed Phil could stay, Dan left him to fill in his details and went in search of his bed for the next couple nights.

There were eight bunks in Dan’s room, a group of people were sat talking across several of them. Dan could see a few bottles sat on the floor beside them.

He said hi to them on his way passed, because he knew from his reading that, whilst petty theft wasn’t uncommon in these sorts of situations, most travelers looked out for each so a good first impression would probably stand him in good stead.

Dan was sprawled on his bed with his eyes closed when Phil walked in. The bed was too small and the mattress was pretty thin, but it was cheap and part of the experience. Dan was glad he had brought his own pillow and blanket.

Dan watched as Phil walked over and checked the number on the bedpost.

“Guess I’m on top then.”

Dan snorted.

“I mean- “ Phil blushed and gestured to the bunk above Dan instead.

“Sure, dude, whatever you want,” Dan said, looking up at Phil with his hands behind his head, smirking. Phil started climbing the ladder up. “Just don’t fall out.”

Phil stopped, looked up at the bunk then down at Dan. “That’s not an unlikely possibility” He said, gravely.

 

Dan had a light sleep thanks to the thin, lumpy mattress and guests stumbling into the room several times at God knows what hour in the night.

So he was already wide awake when he felt his phone buzz beneath his pillow.

 _Phil: hey  
_ _Phil: you awake?_

_Dan: yeah_

_Phil: you want to go get breakfast?_

_Dan: yeah k_

It was still pretty early but Dan knew he there was no chance of getting any more sleep today, and he’d watched as several people had packed and left already.

Dan felt the bed frame creak and wobble as Phil manoeuvred himself out of the small bed above him and lowered himself down the ladder. He landed with a thud on the floor right by Dan’s head.

“Ow!” Phil exclaimed, steadying himself. Dan stifled a giggle then immediately stopped, horrified at what he saw before him.

“What are those?” He whisper-shouted, mindful of the other people still asleep in the room. He stared at what he supposed Phil called pyjama bottoms, eyes wide.

“What?” Phil said, looking down at himself. “They’re emoji pyjamas.”

“They are the most hideous thing I have ever seen in my life!” Dan said, still whisper-shouting. “And should be burnt in a fiery pit in hell!”

“Hey,” Phil said, affronted. “I like them. And they’re comfy.”

 

Once they’d locked their valuables away in a hostel locker they ventured out into the city.

Berlin looked completely different to Dan during the day to what they’d seen last night, so when they left the hostel he wasn’t really sure what direction they were walking in. Nevertheless, they kept walking and did so until Dan’s stomach was telling him it was time eat, causing them to stop at the next cafe they came across. After they’d ordered breakfast they talked about plans for the day.

“A spy museum?” Phil asked as he sipped on his coffee.

“Yeah,” Dan said. He’d read a lot about it online and had really wanted to go, but was far too nervous to go by himself. “It’s interactive and has loads of cool spy tech for visitors to use.

 

Dan finished showing Phil various websites and images on his phone of all he had planned for today. He’d moved around the table to sit closer to Phil so Phil could see his screen properly, but when he looked back up at him, Phil was already looking back. Dan was suddenly very aware of every centimetre of distance between them, of how their knees were lent into each other so they were just about touching. How their arms were pressed together from shoulder to elbow.

Dan moved his chair back around the table and cleared his suddenly dry throat.

“So, err-” Dan started, tapping something on his phone screen so as to have a reason not to look Phil in the eye. “You haven’t mentioned anything you want to do yet.”

“You seem to have a pretty solid plan,” Phil shrugged. “I’m happy to do whatever, as long as I’m with you.”

Dan looked up at Phil then. His smile was soft as he spoke, his eyes, softer, were taking in every detail of Dan’s face, cataloguing every freckle, every dimple, as if he’ll need to remember it for later.

Dan felt self-conscious under the scrutiny and put his phone down in favour of stirring his coffee that was already plenty stirred.

"Okay then.”

 

They started with a hop on-hop off open topped bus tour of the city. At the first stop, Checkpoint Charlie, they took it in turns to take photos of each other stood in between the statue guards. Dan took a selfie of both of them. He just about restrained from doing a peace sign. Then read the various stories of how people had tried to crossed the Berlin Wall.

Next to a water fountain outside of Brandenburg Museum, they’d taken more selfies which Dan would caption ‘Brandenburg Buds’ on Instagram later.

Inside, Phil had pointed a statue, turned to Dan and said: “Found a statue of your mum.”

“Hey,” Dan said, swatting at Phil’s arm. “You don’t even know what my mum looks like.”

Phil had then sent a picture of a particularly gruesome looking statue in a glass case and sent it Dan with the caption “you”. He’d turned to watch Dan receive the message then turn to him and glare at him from across the room.

Their day eventually lead to Dan licking up rapidly melting ice cream from a cone in Tiergarten Park. Phil, next to him, was struggling with his own mango sorbet with chocolate chips ice cream; flicking his tongue in between his fingers and over the back of his hand to lick up the sticky ice cream drops. Dan found it difficult to pull his eyes away.

“You okay there, Philly?” Phil made a noise of affirmation, only just noticing that the neglected ice cream was melting all over his other hand too. Dan offered him a napkin he’d kept over from breakfast.

Dan ended his day the same way it had started; his phone buzzing beneath his pillow.

 _Phil: today was so much fun_  
_Phil: thanks  
_ _Phil: I’m v glad we met_

Dan smiled to himself.

 _Dan: so am i  
_ _Dan: goodnight_

 

The second day, they abandoned the pre-planned bus route to explore the city on their own. They ended up walking down East Side Gallery, taking their time admiring all the paintings and posing for photos stood against various art works.

Dan pointed out a pair giant hands on Oberbaumbrücke bridge that he’d read about, representing the meeting of the two sides of Berlin. They watched as the hands flashed randomly blue, red, and yellow, depicting each item in the game. This sparked a very lively game of rock paper scissors between the two of them, which Dan won even after Phil’s shout of all or nothing when he was losing 12-3.

 

“So where are we going next?” Phil asked as they walked back to the station.

“What? Where do your tickets say you’re going?”

“They don’t say anything, I got a pass that lets me go anywhere I want, all I had planned was Amsterdam and Berlin. You seem to know what you’re doing, so where are we going next?.” Dan laughed. Phil looked across at him, “Unless you’d rather we split up and go on alone? Because that’s fine too.” He rushed, his voice significantly less sure than it had been.

Dan continued watching the tarmac pass under his feet. “Yeah, you can join me.” He said, smiling back at Phil. “I mean I suppose I could put up with you for a few more days.”

“Hey!” Phil exclaimed, pushing at Dan’s shoulder but laughing as he did.

When their laughter had died down Phil asked again. “So where _are_ we going next?”

Dan made a noise as if he was taking great thought in thinking of an answer. “How about Prague?”

“Prague?”

“Yep.”

“Prague it is then.”

**Stop 4: Prague, Czech Republic (2 nights)**

They arrived mid afternoon and the jumper Dan had put on this morning had definitely been a mistake.

“Why do you insist on wearing all black in this heat?” Phil asked as they were leaving the station, tugging on the sleeve of Dan’s fluffy black jumper to indicate his point further.

“For the aesthetic Phil!” Dan said. “Have to keep the aesthetic.”

“Well, I feel like the aesthetic is going to give you heat stroke.” Phil replied, looking Dan up and down, with a very judgemental expression on his face, then down at his own shorts and t-shirt.

Dan took a long sip from the over-priced bottle of water he’d picked up inside the station.

“I’m fine.” He insisted. “Where do you want to go first?”

“I don’t know, Daniel.” Phil said. “You’re the one who wanted to come to Prague, I just followed you.” Something fluttered in Dan’s chest. “I just have one request though.”

“What?”

“We get food first. Ow!” Phil yelped, rubbing his shoulder and attempted to swat Dan back.

He missed.

Phil had been given a bed in a seperate room to Dan at the hostel. Which meant that when 7pm rolled around on the second night, Dan had to go searching.

He found Phil laid out on the top bunk, hideous PJs already on, at the back corner of a large but still mostly empty room. Dan walked up to to Phil’s bed and plonked his arms heavily on to Phil’s mattress.

“I hope you’re not afraid of ghosts, Phil.” Phil looked up from his phone, a very confused expression on his face.

“What?” He asked.

“Put your shoes on.” Dan said, “We’re going ghost hunting!”

“Dan, why did you make me get out of bed?” Phil whined, drawing out Dan’s name into two syllables. “It was warm there, it’s cold out here.” There was, indeed, a slight chill, especially compared to the warmth of the past couple of days.

“It’s not cold.” Dan said, burying his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. “You said you liked horror films right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I got us tickets to a Ghost Walking Tour.”

“You believe in ghosts?” Phil asked, surprised.

“No, but I thought it could be a fun adventure.” Dan replied, trying his best to being convincing. Mostly, he was cold and tired and it made him even more tired just thinking about 2 hours of walking. But, he didn’t come here to miss out on exciting opportunities just because of his laziness, and if the cold and dark and potential of scary stories meant having to walk a little closer to Phil, then, well, that was plenty of motivation for him.

“Where are we going on this walking tour?” Phil asked

“I don’t know, they just told me the meeting place in the Old Town.” Dan looked across at Phil. “Don’t worry, if you get too scared I’m here, you don't need to be brave.” Dan teased.

Maybe it was the chilly air and the low lighting, but Dan was pretty sure he could see Phil blushing. He carried on walking, bumping his shoulder into Phil’s as they walked.

When they arrived at the meeting point, there was already a dozen or so people there. They didn’t make any effort to introduce themselves to anyone but smiled at the few people who acknowledged their arrival.

A short woman with bright red hair shouted for everyone’s attention from the front. She had to stand on a step to been seen over the crowd but when she spoke her words had an air of authority that rose above her short stature. She spoke everything in Czech then again in thick-accented English.

When Dan had booked the tickets, he’d been sent a link to an app that contained an interactive map of the city’s many phantoms and legends. He’d already spent a bit of time reading through some of the stories on there.

They remained at the back of the pack for the entirety of the tour.

As much as Dan vehemently denied the existence of ghosts to whomever asked, he had to admit that walking through the dark streets of Prague, with the streetlamps casting an eerie glowing over the statues and the stories their tour guide was telling them...  he was looking over his shoulder a little too often and walking a little too close to Phil and the rest of the group, keeping his arms pressed very firmly to his sides.

That said it seemed as though Phil was experiencing very much the same emotions, because he was also looking about himself rather frequently, jerking around at every slight noise, with hands also buried deep in his pockets.

“Hey,” Dan whispered, sharply, right into Phil’s ear when he was looking in the opposite direction. The reaction it gave him was even better than he’d hoped for; Phil seemed to jump backwards about three feet, his eyes wide, hand pressed to his chest.

He let out a shrill shriek. “Oh my god, Dan!” He exclaimed, hitting Dan rather hard on the shoulder when he’d realised what had happened.

Dan pressed a hand to his mouth to keep his laughter from disturbing the rest of the group, although many of them had turned around at Phil’s scream, even their tour guide seemed to have noticed.

“Everything alright back there?” She asked.

"Yeah, sorry.” Dan managed. He turned back to Phil, “I thought you weren’t afraid of ghosts?”

“I hate you.”

They finished the tour back where they started. It was properly dark now, and they spent no time hanging about before heading back to their accommodation, the stories their tour guide had told them at the forefront of both of their minds. Their shoulders and elbows bumped into each other every few steps.

After saying goodnight, Dan settled down in his bed, which was only marginally comfier than his bed in Berlin. He started scrolling back through the photos in his camera roll, smiling at the still recent memories. He stopped on one he’d taken in the park in Berlin; it was a selfie of him and Phil holding their ice creams, faces scrunched up, eyes closed and smiling. He posted a couple of albums to Instagram, including the ones he’d taken with Phil.

When he could no longer keep his eyes open against the brightness of his phone screen he turn it off, put it back under his pillow and fell asleep.

Dan woke to something tickling his forehead. His semi-conscious self waved an arm over his face, promptly falling back asleep. He woke up an indeterminate amount of time later to muffled giggling confusingly close to his face.

He opened his eyes to a pair of black-rimmed glasses and a crooked mouth smiling back at him.

“Morning sleepy head.” Phil said.

Dan groaned and rolled over away from him. Some more giggling a little further away made Dan turn back around and attempt to open his eyes properly.

Phil was knelt down by his bed, smiling down at him. The closeness was comforting to Dan, which was an odd thought to have considering they’d only met a few days ago. But waking up like this was definitely something Dan could get used.

“Your boyfriend, here, was wondering when you’d be getting up.” An unfamiliar voice said from somewhere behind Phil.

“He’s not-” Dan started just as Phil pulled the thin duvet off him. “Hey!”

“Come onnn- Are they Star Wars Pyjamas?”

“At least they’re better than emoji pyjamas.” Dan retorted, sliding his legs off the bed and standing up.

It turns out that while Dan had been sleeping, Phil had gotten them invited to a wine tasting class with some of Dan’s dorm mates he had neglected to talk to.

Lukas and Marie were an Austrian couple finishing up their own tour of Europe. They seemed friendly enough and between them, Dan and Phil managed to keep up a respectable amount of small talk the entire journey to the small cheese and wine house.

They sat around a small, square wooden table where a platter of cheese was placed in the centre and a server poured each of them some wine. Dan wrinkled his nose at the merger amount but thought it impolite to ask for more while their new friends had already picked up their glasses and were swirling it around and putting them up to their nose.

He and Phil both hesitantly picked up their own glasses, copying their actions, trying to figure what exactly they were trying to achieve. Phil looked over at him with his nose buried over the rim of the glass and raised an eyebrow.

“Hmm,” Phil said, taking a deep breath from the glass “very... wine-y.” Dan snorted.

They listened as the instructor informed them they were “preparing their brain for the wine they were about to taste.”

“I think I’ll pass on the cheese.” Phil said when the Lukas and Marie offered him the platter.

“You don’t like cheese?” Dan asked.

“No not really.”

“Weirdo.” Dan said as he took a large piece that should really not be that colour off the platter.

After the class, they said goodbye to their companions, wished them safe travels and headed off down the cobbled road to the station.

**Stop 5: Budapest, Hungary (2 nights)**

They arrived late in Budapest, and tired after the long journey headed straight to the hostel.

Hostels, in their nature, were meant to be a social place. You booked a bed and shared your room with too many strangers to ‘met new and like minded people’. But Dan knew himself, was aware of his introvertedness and knew, when booking, that even though he’d be spending the several weeks by himself would still need space and time to be truly alone. Dan had booked hostels for the most of his cities because they were cheap, and a private room in a hostel still worked out less than most of the hotels.

So, Dan had surprised himself, when, on the train, Phil had been struggling to book a bed at the same hostel, Dan had suggested they shared his room.

“Do you have a twin room?”

“No, it’s a double which means we’d have to share a bed but that would be okay with me if it’s okay with you?” Dan had rambled, voice lilting up at the end to make it a question.

Dan would never before have dreamt of offering to share a bed with a guy he’d met barely a week ago, but here he was offering, for completely selfless reasons. Obviously.  


Dan was laid in bed as Phil finished up in the bathroom. He checked his phone to see several messages from his Grandma.

 _Grandma:Hello Daniel, I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday. It certainly looks like it from the photos you posted. And who is the very handsome gentlemen you were with? It looks like the two of you were having a lot of fun, whoever he was.  
_ _Grandma: I’m sure very you’re busy right now having grand adventures so we’ll speak later. Love G xx_

“That’s just Phil.” Dan said, when the subject was brought up shortly after Dan had hit dial on his grandma’s contact.

“Just Phil?” She repeats back, “and is Just Phil nice?”

“Yeah, he’s nice. He’s sweet.”

“That’s good, that’s good. And where did you meet him?”

“Actually we met on the train from London, he was sat next to me. Then we met again in Amsterdam and just kind… stayed together.” Dan explained, fiddling with a thread on the duvet.

His grandma made an interest noise, “Will I get to meet him?”

Dan stopped, finally picking up on the implications of her tone. “Grandma, no, it’s not like that.” Dan was shaking his head, despite the fact that she couldn’t see him. “We’re just friends. We only just met.”

“Okay, okay,” his Grandma said, laughing slightly. “As long as you’re both having fun.”

“Yeah, we are.” Dan replied just as Phil walked into the room and waited until Dan said goodbye to his grandma and hung up the phone.

He stopped at the edge of the bed, hovering and looking at Dan as if asking for permission.

“You can get in you know.”

Phil laughed awkwardly and lifted the edge of the duvet and gingerly climbed in, taking care to keep as much space between them as possible.

“Goodnight, Dan,” He said after a moment.

“Night.” Dan put his phone and turned off the light, not feeling particularly sleepy but doing so anyway.  


Dan woke the next morning with a heavy weight very close to his side and when he opened his eyes was met with a sleepy Phil face very close to his own. He laid there watching for a bit, quite certain that was a creepy thing to do but not wanting to get up and disturb Phil quite yet.

Eventually, though his bladder wouldn’t let him wait any longer and he carefully climbed out. When he came back from the bathroom, Phil was already awake sat up scrolling through his phone.

“Morning, Dan.” Phil said, looking up. “Did you sleep well?”

Dan stood in the middle of the room, unsure what to do next. He felt it would be awkward for him to get back into bed, as much as he wanted to. But he also wasn’t sure whether it would be okay for him to get dressed in front of Phil.

“Yeah I did thanks. Did you?” Dan made his decision and slowly walked over to his rucksack to pull out a change of clothes.

 

Dan was floating in the water with his chin just below the surface. Phil, for whom the thought to bring swimming shorts had not even crossed his mind, was sat on the side in his underwear with his legs dangling over the side. The pool behind Dan was blessedly quiet, though that was little consolation to Phil who had protested immensely at the idea.

Dan waved his arm over the surface, creating a small tidal wave which washed over Phil’s knees. Phil shrieked and kicked his legs up in the water splashing water over Dan’s head. Dan retaliated harder causing Phil to laugh louder and a few stares to be directed at them.

“Dan, stop! Okay, okay, I’ll get in.” Phil said, trying to contain his laughter, then lowered himself into the water.

When he turned around to face Dan, Dan didn’t step back, didn’t move away to put the appropriate distance back between them. Phil’s back was pressed right against the side of the pool, and Dan was floating there, right in front of him.

Dan traced his eyes all over Phil’s face, over his cheek bones, the curve of his ears, the blue of his eyes, the yellow and green flecks in his irises, down to the pink plumpness of his lips. Dan felt tips of fingers that weren’t his own, stroke everso lightly along his jaw and come to rest under his chin. Then that mouth was moving towards his own, what could only have been a couple of seconds stretched into what seemed like hours. Sound that was bouncing around the stone walls and high ceiling became a distance echo.

The sound of movement behind Phil had him dropping his hand back into the water and Dan moving backwards, away from him, as a child ran across the wet floor.

Phil’s eyes widen for a moment and all his muscles seemed to tense in the water, but as soon as the child had passed his shoulders relaxed and a smile returned to his face and he flicked some water at Dan.

The moment had passed along with the child.

 

They fell into their normal routine of teasing and banter for the remainder of the day, which Dan was thankful for. But their almost-kiss kept replaying itself in Dan’s head, and several times throughout the day he caught himself staring. It was thrilling; the way his heart would steed up and the butterflies fluttered around in his stomach whenever he thought he’d caught Phil staring back.

They didn’t talk about that moment, but their normal teasing seemed intensified and Dan was sure they passed the line between teasing to flirting by now. Dan also came to realise how much of a physical person Phil was. A barrier seemed to have been broken for Phil because Dan lost count of the amount of times Phil made a reason to prod or poke at Dan, his sides, his arms, his dimple.

 

When Phil was climbing into bed that night, he wasn’t so careful to leave as much space between them, to make sure there was no accidental touching.

“Are you wearing socks?” Dan asked, incredulous as a socked foot made contact, several times, with his shin as Phil made himself comfortable beneath the covers.

“I have cold feet,” Phil protested.

“I’ve been told I’m like a radiator before.” And, Dan really hadn’t intended for that to come out as low as it did. But then Phil was rolling onto his side to face Dan, then was trailing a hand up Dan’s arm.

“You can keep me warm then.” Phil said, matching Dan’s tone.

“I’ll try.” Dan said. Then something was pulling him forward, finally, finally closing that distance .

A surprised sound left Phil’s mouth as Dan pressed his firmly against it. He brought his hand up to rest on Phil’s cheek as Phil slid his around Dan’s back and up to the back of his neck, pulling him forward even more, so that their chests were pressed together, then their hips, then all the way down to their toes.

They broke apart as Dan tilted his head down slightly to catch his breath, but Phil had his fingers under Dan’s chin once again, lifting it up, bringing their lips together again softly. Dan’s head felt full of cotton balls; all the too long stares; all the teasing and playful touching; all the butterflies and hours and hours of conversation that never died. And if it did there was never any awkwardness, not anymore, their companionship was so easy. It made Dan feel free, to do and say whatever he liked, to blurt out his most random and ridiculous thoughts, without fear of serious judgement. All of it was poured into that kiss.

He could feel Phil’s hands trailing lightly all over his back and arms and waist, under his shirt and tugging gently at his hair. Dan smiled against Phil’s lips.

 

That night was the best night's sleep Dan had had on the trip so far. He woke up with an arm wrapped around his waist and warm breath against the back of his neck. A grin broke out on his face as he remembered the night before and he turned around carefully in Phil’s arms to face to.

Phil stirred slightly, only to pull Dan in closer. As much as Dan wanted to get out and explore some more, he already had the best thing he could experience in the city right here.

He planted a gently kiss on Phil’s forehead before drifting back off to sleep.

**Stop 6-7: Vienna, Austria - Venice, Italy (1 night, 2 nights)**

They stopped of at Vienna for a night on the way to Venice. Their hands brushed as they walked down street, Phil wrapped a pinky finger around Dan’s. A warm, happy feeling settled itself in Dan’s stomach.

The train from Vienna arrived in Venice in the early morning. They’d both only managed to get a few hours sleep, in between sharing earphones watching episodes of season 2 of Queer Eye. The outside world had disappeared as they absorbed themselves into their own little private bubble, undisturbed by all the surroundings, covering their sobs as they ugly cried into their sleeves.

 

Dan was not going to let a trip to Venice pass by without having a ride in a gondola. So as soon as he was starting to feel the effects of the coffee, he was determined to do exactly that.

“Dan,” Phil whined, as Dan attempt to pull Phil up from his chair in the cafe. “I need my second mug.”

“You can get it after, I want to go on a gondola while it’s still quiet.”

Phil protested but let Dan pull him to his feet, not letting go of his hand. They hadn’t had any conversations about boundaries yet, but short periods of hand holding seemed to be agreeable. Dan kept hold of Phil’s fingers loosely and swung their hands between them.

They’d already dropped their bags at the next hostel as soon as they’d arrived, again in separate rooms. When Phil hadn’t met up with Dan to go back out, Dan had gone to investigate, finding Phil face down on his bed. Phil had protested just as much that time too.

They had the gondola to themselves, sat side by side with the gondolier behind them. Their legs were pressed together in from of them because this was a very small boat and they were very large people. Dan watched their feet, lined up neatly in front of them and tapped his foot a couple times into the side of Phil’s. Phil tapped Dan’s foot back in the same rhythm.

It was barely 8:30 in the morning and the streets were still quiet. They sat in silence, listening to the water lapping at the sides of the boat. Dan felt content. He smiled up at the rising sun in the sky and closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun’s rays seep into his skin. At the same moment, he felt Phil lean his head on Dan’s shoulder. Dan smiled wider.  


Once they’d left the gondola, they headed out onto the water again to the island of Murano. They walked down the narrow streets past buildings painted all the colours of the rainbow. Dan took a selfie of them both against an orange building, their heads lent in together. He took another of him kissing Phil’s cheek. When he looked back at the photo, he could see Phil looking at the Dan through the screen with an expression Dan could only describe as fond.

He took many more photos; several of Phil from behind walking down the same brightly coloured streets. The next, one of Phil half turned around to Dan, catching him in the act. At the hostel that night, he would post both of them, debating over posting the one of him kissing Phil’s cheek. Eventually deciding that one was too precious to post; one he would print and frame and stand next to his bed, and posting its original instead.

They spent the rest of the day exploring the islands, and most of the next exploring the mainland. When they headed back to the station, they took the walk slow, taking in as much of the city as they could in the little time they had left.

“So, where’s next?” Phil asked, taking hold of Dan’s fingers briefly and squeezing. Dan looked down at their hands. When he’d booked this trip, he knew he’d want to finish up in Paris. He’d heard lots of stories from his friends who had visited with their various partners, and he had several happy memorise from a trip there as a kid. But he’d also known it would be a bittersweet visit, being alone in the ‘most romantic city’ and all.

He looked back up at Phil. “Paris.”

**Stop 8: Paris, France (2 nights)**

Dan had also booked a hotel for this city. His past self treating him to a stop of luxury after all the hostels. Present Dan couldn’t be more thankful as Phil came back over after trying to book a last minute room in the city.

“It’s fine, Phil, I told you we can just add you onto my booking.” This had been Dan’s plan earlier in the day, but Phil had insisted that he try find his own room first because surely Dan would want some time to himself by now. But the strange thing was, spending time alone with Phil was essentially the same as spending time actually alone. Spending time with Phil didn’t drain Dan like spending time with any other person did and, to Dan’s introverted self, that was all he could ask for in a best friend. Because whilst Phil was his near enough best friend now, Dan felt like he could be so much more.

 

They did all the classic touristy things during their first day in Paris; they had a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower, then climbed it. The lift to the top had a glass floor and Phil had squealed when Dan had jumped on it, clutching at Dan’s wrists in an attempt to hold him down and stop him. The second day, they visited the Louvre Museum where Dan had spent most of the walk round quoting Lorde lyrics into Phil’s ear, who had become more and more fondly annoyed with Dan as the day went on.

When evening came and Dan asked what they wanted to do for dinner, Phil had stopped them dead in the middle of the street, causing a couple of people behind them to veer around them, grumbling in French.

“I have an idea,” Phil said, a sparkle in his eyes.

“What?” Dan asked confused more about the fact Phil had stopped so suddenly than what his idea actually was.

“Do you remember that cute little restaurant just down the road from our hotel?”

“Yes?” Dan said, slowly.

“How about I meet you outside of there in 30 minutes?”

“What?” Dan asked, again. “But that looked so fancy, and I don’t have any clean clothes left. Let alone fancy ones.”

“Oh stop complaining it’ll be nice. It’ll be our first proper date.”

“But we’ve already had dates.”

Phil rolled his eyes. “Just meet me there in 30 minutes, yeah?”

“Wait, where are you going? What am I supposed to do for half an hour.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure something out.” Phil said, getting hold of both of Dan’s hands and giving him a quick kiss on the mouth before heading off in the direction they were going originally, which was also the opposite direction to the hotel and the restaurant.

Dan remained in the middle of the pavement, unsure of what to do next. He’d planned his entire trip around travelling alone, was used to spending the majority of his life being and feeling alone. But now, after knowing what it was like to have someone by your side all the time, to want to be by their side, to never feel alone because you know they are there, or at least a couple rooms away, was overwhelming.

Dan turned around and walked back in the direction they’d come to the restaurant which he knew was less than 15 minutes away. As he walked he collected those thoughts as the warm breeze blew through his hair, ruffling his curls.

By the time he arrived at the restaurant, he’d began to settle more comfortably into the feeling and leant against a wall just to the side of the entrance and pulled out his phone.

 _Dan: i miss you xx  
_ _Dan: also im here where are u_

 _Phil: gross_  
_Phil: also i miss you too xxx_  
Phil: and i’m on my way

Dan pocketed his phone and folded his arms over his chest. He looked down at his feet, crossed at the ankles, at the shoes he’d been wearing non-stop for the past 2 weeks, his black jeans with rips in the knees. He was definitely not appropriately dressed for this restaurant, but he had zero other clean clothes and had definitely not packed with a fancy restaurant in mind.

All things considered though, Dan was rather impressed that his hasty packing back in London had done him well this far. He hadn’t needed to buy a single pair of new underwear, which was probably a good thing because the souvenirs he had bought had been challenge enough.

He stood there for another 10 minutes until he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

_Phil: So you're never going to believe this Dan_

_Dan: what_

_Phil: think i'm going to be late x_

_Dan: what!! that's not like you ;)_

_Phil: :P_  
_Phil: i'll be there in a minute though i promise x_  
Phil: there was a long queue so not my fault this time x

 _Dan: sure_  
_Dan: i'll believe you x_  
_Dan: this time x_  
Dan: long queue for what though???

 _Phil: you’ll see ;) xx  
_ _Phil: <3 _

Dan had only just put his phone away when he saw the silhouette of Phil walking down the street towards his still quite some distance away. He seemed to be holding something. Dan squinted to try and see better. As Phil walked closer, in and out of the orange glow of the street lamps, Dan began to see better; it seemed to be long and pointy at one end and Phil got closer still he realised it was a small bouquet of white roses.

Dan was speechless as Phil presented him the flowers.

“Phil, I don’t- why did you-” Dan sputtered.

“Do you like them?” Phil asked, uncertainty in his tone. “Are they too much? It’s just when we passed them yesterday you said-”

“Oh Phil,” Dan said, interrupting. “They’re so beautiful. Thank you.” Dan could feel his eyes beginning to get a little damp, and he blinked away the moisture as he pressed his nose into the petals.

They were seated at a table in the restaurant that was definitely too fancy for their current attire, looking around at the other customers in their fancy dinner jackets and long dresses. Their waitress was kind enough not to acknowledge this as she gave them menus and poured them each some water, saying she would be back shortly to take their orders.

Dan laid his flowers down on the table, proudly.

 

Half way through dessert Dan said:

“We could do long distance, right? We could make that work, I know everybody says long distances is a terrible idea, but I could come visit you every few weeks and you come visit me in your holidays. And there’s always Skype, we could Skype every night? Or every other night?”

“Woah, slow down there Danny.” Phil chuckled, cutting off Dan’s ramble.

“Right, of course sorry. We’ve only just…” Dan trailed off, gesturing between them then looking down at his plate, embarrassed. He always does this; when he gets an idea his thoughts run away from his thinking, and often saying at loud to anyone close enough to hear, all possible scenarios and outcomes. But this between them is not an idea or a project, it’s something new and delicate that deserves nurture and care to allow it to grow into something wonderful.

“No no no,” Phil is saying. “That’s not what- No- I mean-” He takes a deep breath and put his knife and fork down beside his pancakes so he was giving Dan his full attention. “I meant that I’m not going back to Manchester, I’m moving to London.”

“But I thought you said you were going back to uni?” Dan asked confused.

“I am, but I’m moving to the UCL. There’ll be better job opportunities there for when I graduate and-” his voice cracked. “And I can’t go to Manchester. I’ll miss my parents but my mum’s been talking about them getting a house on the Isle of Man for ages anyway. I’ve been nervous about the move, as a kid I always thought of it as the big, scary city, but now it’ll be less scary, I’ll have you there.” He said the last part quietly, unsurely.

“Yeah,” Dan said equally as quietly, but as sure as he’s ever been of anything. “You will.”

 

**Stop 9: London, St. Pancras.**

Dan carried his roses all the way home, keeping them clutched to his chest tightly, even picking up a vase once he was back in London and had said goodbye for now to Phil. The first thing he did when he had stepped through the door of his apartment was fill it was water and put in the flowers.

The second thing he did was throw his bag into his room, strip off his clothes and shower, the warm water cascading down his back as he massaged shampoo into his scalp

The third thing was call his grandma who could hear his beaming smile before he’d even had a chance to say hello.

“Oh, someone’s happy.”

“Do you remember Phil?”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feedback is welcome and appreciated :)
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